Alan Snider  - Jun 18, 2005 11:16 am (#10187 Total: 10219)  
On the Playtest Table: Adam Starkweather's "The Devil's Cauldron"; 
and announcing the "Northern Knights Wargaming Group" in Vancouver, 
Canada with a retail store of it's own at http://www.stalag17wargames.com/ 
	 
GAMENIGHT, June 17th: Craig Nynych and I continued with our game of S&T
227 The Old Contemptibles... Craig has taken a risky gambit on turn 1,
leaving the defence of the canal to block the German approach and
unco-ordinate their forces. This has somewhat forced the Germans to
attack piecemeal as they are backed up along the road in some areas. 

By turn 2, the British have secured the river positions opposite the
German turn 4 re-inforcements entry areas. It will now be a battle
simply to bring them on board, and with all the forest areas surrounding
this particular road. This really messes things up, as the artillery
MUST stay on the road. 

The effective part of this British strategy is that often the Germans
will lose that critical first step (8 strength value flips to 4
strength) NOT in the act of moving into a built up hex (which is the
most ideal). This had the most alarming effect on German morale
(obviously not too green to be scared-as per designers note, hahaha). I
began to project that the German attacks would grind down prior to
reaching the canal area and the bridges necessary to claim a turn 7
victory (otherwise the game continues to turn 14- Thanks Pete B!). It
was a very nerve wracking experience, and honestly thoughts of conceding
began to pass through my mind by the end of turn 4). As the turn 4
reinforcements were just beginning to enter play, I thought we'd soldier
on just to see what effect they might have. 

I started to get a whole lot pickier on my attacks as the Germans,
targetting the bridge hexes, and IF succeeding in the artillery phase;
would follow up with infantry assaults. Once I am able to advance into a
built up area, it will not likely get counterattacked by the British.
The Brit artillery will be a whole other matter. 

One of my better moves was to withdraw from adjacent positions near
Ghlin and Bouduor. This invited the Brits further away from the canal
and into clear hexes. Down near Houtrage, the last 8-4 German unit
pulled back to the east edge hoping that the Brits would not pursue (but
they did). This moved the balance of the British artillery forward out
of the built up hexes. 

Turn 5 provided the Germans with some good attack options. Near Mons,
the Germans managed to get some good arty concentration and eliminate a
couple of the British units. This culminated in an 8-4 unit moving
across the river at the bridge hex. Cracks are beginning to show in the
British positions. Near Houtage, the onrushing German reinforcements
have done some damage, leaving the British with some poorly defended
artillery positions. I am just beginning to see some hope in all this...

The German artillery have made short work of the British penning them
across the river; and they look downright menacing as they prepare to
wheel toward Houtage to deal a significant blow to the British
capabilities. We'll just see if they turn tail on their turn 5 or not...
The option is open to head west and take a run at some of the bridge
positions straight away, but much of this depends on the next British
move. 

At this point there is 22 British units eliminated (1VP) and the game
will likely be won by the contest for the VP city near the west map
edge. It is not out of the question that the Germans can end the game by
turn 7 by capturing all the 6 bridge hexes required. Craig and I will
continue tonight, then our group will turn its' attention to S&T 228
Vinegar Joe's War!! 

Alan Snider - Jun 19, 2005 11:18 am (#10200 Total: 10219) 
On the Playtest Table: Adam Starkweather's "The Devil's Cauldron"; and 
announcing the "Northern Knights Wargaming Group" in Vancouver, Canada 
with a retail store of it's own at http://www.stalag17wargames.com/ 
	 
GAMENIGHT, June 18th: Craig Nynych and I finished our game of S&T 227
The Old Contemptibles. We had finished up last session with the German
5th turn, and the Germans are just beginning to see that things could
break open for them. Craig has been very aggressive in his command,
chosing to hunt down Germans beyond the defence of the canal; hoping
that this is the key to delaying and un-coordiating the German attack as
a whole. 

On turn 6, the British take a fight-fight option, and while they do some
serious damage to the German offensive capability (even sniping a stray
artillery piece); it is amazing that the Germans have enough left to
continue to push. I chose to not press and melee attacks against units
that I could not attack with at least 5-1 odds. This would ensure at
least a 4-1 attack after defensive fire was resolved. I hoped to chip
away at the British infantry with artillery in hopes I can win the
battle of the artillery barrages. 

By turn 7, the Germans did have 3 (of 6) bridges necessary for the day
one victory, and were able to blow a serious hole in the British line
and now have their eyes on Bavai. Near Mons, the battle has turned into
straight attrition, as both sides pound each other with little options
for melee or advance. As a result, I disengage the German troops from
this area and head towards the bridge hexes near Ghlin. It looks like
this game is headed to a second day of battle. 

The aforementioned breach in the British line leads to a German unit
scooting down down the road all the way into Bavai. This will give the
Brits something to think about (although they are successful in
extending the game into a 14 turn affair). The Brits are sluggish on the
pull back from the line, but begin to send both cavalry and artillery
toward Bavai, while at the same time setting up single step unit speed
bumps at all the critical road junctions. 

The following turns (8-12) involve the Germans slowly moving into the
built up sections of the map along the roadways, and clearing the
British units blocking the approach to Bavai. I focus on eliminating
artillery and protecting the final 8-4 infantry unit that the Germans
have left. I'd rather wait an extra turn to clear the area with
artillery, than giving up that first step loss. 

The British manage to get a spotting unit and 6 strength points of
artillery trained on Bavai, but are not successful in their attacks. The
-2 to fire into a built up hex is just deadly, particularly as Craig
rolled so poorly on this occasion. There are enough roadblocks on the
roads to Bavai that the British should b able to clear it out on the
final 2 turns, but the Britsh make the assessment that they cannot take
Bavai AND exit the required 8 units off the map to win the game. With a
heavy heart and lives of his remaining troops on his mind; the British
commander concedes the game. 

I believe that Craig pushed about as far as one can with the British
canal abandoning strategy, and I will say that his die-rolling was a lot
better than my own; particularly at critical times. Even with this being
the case, the Germans were able to reach their objectives. Due to the
result of our game, I am led to believe that the benefits of a British
offensive beyond the canal are illusory. This game will now enter the
records as a TOC game played with prior to what our group is calling the
anti-Nynych rule (Ty's latest rule amendment- by way of Mark Mc).